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One feature I've missed dearly from the gnome-desktop is File Emblems.

As a brief for those unfamiliar, skip the next paragraph if you know about these:

On the gnome desktop, you can right-click on any file and add "Emblems". Each emblem is a tiny visual marker overlaid on top of that file or folders icon, and there were multiple emblems to choose from. You could put as many emblems as you would like on a file, and remove them whenever you wanted. Emblems add metadata to the file/folder. When you are browsing files, you would then see the emblems overlaid. Not unlike when you create a shortcut and you see the this-is-a-shortcut arrow overlaid. They tend to be minimal in design and behave almost like sub-icons. Purely visual markers for the user.


Emblems are obscenely useful when you need to somehow mark a file for quick reference later. Ironically, Gnome emblems ultimately moved me off the Windows desktop they were so useful. I've missed them since switching to KDE.


For example, I might be watching a TV series saved onto my computer, and have two-hundred episodes to go through. As I finished each episode, I used to mark it with a [movie] emblem so I knew which episodes I had already seen. I would put a second [*] emblem on my favorite episodes so I could find them easily later. In KDE, I'm forced to make a text file and I name it with the episode number I left off at.

When I had a large number of images I'm working editing, I used to add emblems on poor-quality images letting me drop that picture to come back to it later, or other emblems favoring my best photos. I did the same for website designs, adding emblems letting me know which designs were on my "high priority" list. When working on code projects I would mark files with emblems letting me know quickly if the file needed formatting, was broken, buggy, or getting depreciated, etc.

I know people who use CVS/SVN type tools mark their files to know what's been synced.



In any file-browsing tool, like folderview, dolphin, konquerer, etc, adding a context menu to "Mark with Emblem", "Pin Badges", "Manage Stickers", etc with a handful of badges directly in a sub-context menu to use would greatly improve file management. We could have more emblems in file property menus too.

Since Nepomuk is becoming mature, this could be a very, very easy way to add metadata for Nepomuk to absorb and use for searches, and it's a good practicle application of the tech. I personally hate typing metadata, but emblems are very fast to apply. Dolphin could use badges to quickly filter files.

At a minimum, I think a good start would be adding a dozen core emblems:
- Favorite/Star
- Done / Checked
- Tack/Sticky
- Garbage Can/Recycle
- Clock/time
- Copyright/(c)
- Unreadable/Broken
- Draft/Pencil
- Lock
- Important/!
- Person/User
- Construction/Hammer
- Network/Web
- Backup/Clone

... Eventually, adding things like photo emblems, movie emblems, etc. If emblems do get into KDE, KDE could automatically add them to newly created files - Ie the backup emblem could be added to files created with a ~ in front or .bk on the end. .part files might get an Unreadable emblem as they're simply files mid-download from programs like firefox.

Really, these things are just plain useful. I can't say enough about having basic functionality, nonetheless where KDE could take them.

The KDE icon system supports emblems, but they don't seem to be user-configurable.

Within directories using SVN or GIT content is given some badges but I guess internally.

I do like your idea!

That is one nicest features in GNOME what I can find on it. But KDE SC already supports such embeddes as Blackcat says. We only would need more options to assign them easily and with same manner than in GNOME.

But I believe the embedded icons would not be needed so much if we could have color codes for files, just behind context menu.

This is something what I suggested and at least I would like.
http://img263.imageshack.us/i/dolphinco ... iesfi.png/

brainstorm.php#idea81563

brainstorm.php#idea83525 There is the idea for the color thing. Same kind could be then as well for the embedded icon. Problem just is that the context menu should be clean and simple as possible.

I had already requested this for folders: brainstorm.php?mode=idea&i=41928

This is a great suggestion.

The status of this thread is "Validated". What's that mean, exactly?

@molecule-eye AFAIK, it just means it was acepted as an idea. Doesn't mean it will be applied. Now people has to vote, comment, and developers will decide.

I'm not against the idea as such. However, I don't think having two tagging systems is a good idea.
There already is a solution for tagging any item which is integrated in Dolphin and other applications (Dolphin mentioned in particular as part of the argument is that the emblems make it easy to find the marked items again). The added value of the emblems is the visual recognition. I think the idea would be much more successful if it was implemented as optional attributes of the existing tags - i.e. in the tag definition dialogue there would be an option to define an emblem for the tag.